cries to them,
as his father before him had cried: "It is disgraceful to bow down
to sovereigns, especially since these sovereigns are men; no human
being should bow down to any one excepting God, who created men that
they might be free." With great trouble he finally succeeds in
rousing a part of the people to rebellion. Then he leaves the city
with his followers, resolved to defend his country. Menahem has no
illusions as to the outcome; he knows that he will be conquered by
the Romans. Nevertheless he is fearless, for his whole being is
filled with a single thought,--the idea of justice, which imposes
upon men certain obligations which they must not scorn.

During his stay in Siberia Korolenko had a very good chance to
observe the deported convicts. Most of them are thieves, forgers,
and murderers. The others, urged on by a heroic desire to live their
own true lives, have been sent to this "cursed land" because of
"political offences."

Korolenko is not resigned to the sadness of life, he is not an enemy
to manly calls to active struggle, but he neither wants to, nor can
he, break the ties that bind him to the real life of the present. He
does not wish either to judge or to renounce this life. Nor does he
try, by fighting, to perpetuate a conflict which is in itself
eternal. If he struggles, it is rather in discontent than in
despair. Not all is evil in his eyes, and reality is not always and
entirely sad. His protestations hardly ever take the form of disdain
or contempt; he does not rise to summits which are inaccessible to
mankind. In fact, his ideal is close to earth; it is the ideal which
comes from mankind, from tears and sufferings. If the thoughts and
feelings of the author rise sometimes high above the earth, he never
forgets the world and its interests. Korolenko loves humanity, and
his ideals cannot separate themselves from it. He loves man and he
believes that God lives in their souls.

We find these theories in the sketch called "En Route." The
vagabond, Panov, is one of a party of deported convicts. At one of
the stops, an inspector arrives who remembers having seen Panov when
a young man. The old man goes over the history of his life, which
has been marked with constant success, with pleasure. He shows the
vagabond his little son, and with cruel egotism boasts of his
happiness. Standing before him, his back bent, and a sad light in
his eyes, Panov listens to the story. He feels vaguely that he has